Volume 50 / Humanities

ART: SPANISH AMERICA

Colonial: General, Middle America, and the Caribbean

JOHN F. SCOTT, Professor of Art, University of Florida

MATERIAL RECEIVED FOR REVIEW in this volume of HLAS has focused primarily
on the presentation of new documentary evidence about art and artists, often
to the exclusion of interpretative analysis. While the quick publication of
such documents is to be commended, their authors often do not pursue obvious
linkages with the real works of art to which they refer - for example, Ramírez
Montes fails to look for the Ibarra paintings in Puebla Cathedral (item bi 89001868).
On the other hand, Martha Fernández (item bi 89001860) provides the best balance
between historical documentation and visual evidence, relating facts derived
from documents to actual works of art.

Basic physical facts about colonial monuments which visual documentation provides
take on special significance when the works are in danger of being altered or
demolished. Several studies have been included in this section of HLAS precisely
because of their visual documentary value, even though the quality of their
texts leaves much to be desired (e.g., items bi 89001865, bi 89001851, and bi
89001870). However, to merely publish architectual drawings and photographs,
as García Moll and Juárez Cossio have done in a very expensive folio (item bi
89001864), seems a wasted opportunity. If the primary authors are not qualified
to discuss the architectural and documentary history, then someone who is should
be brought in as a consultant.

The study of Latin American art has been afflicted over the years by the assumption
by regional amateurs that they can publish information without consulting trained
specialists. This is especially true when wealthy individuals set up their own
foundations to support research and publish their own writings. In these cases
there is no peer review to screen manuscripts. Printers sometimes act as copy
editors, resulting in erratic quality of texts. Although we can understand that
this is often due to low budgets of publishers, we hope to see more uniformly
professional standards.

Another aspect of this amateurism is the common practice by self-trained connoisseurs
of attributing art by century only, with no stated criteria for such attributions.
The worst offenders in this regard are South American art historians, but the
practice exists in provincial studies of Mexico, as exemplified by items bi
89001881 and bi 89001869.

It is only recently that a cadre of trained art historical scholars has come
into existence in some Latin American countries: Mexico of course is the shining
example, although Guatemala certainly has a few. Lamentably the other Central
American nations are not represented by any studies in this volume, a fact that
may be attributed to the political turmoil and scarce resources diverted to
other more pressing needs of each republic. Still one would expect some contributions
from Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, given their high level of educational development.
The Dominican Republic certainly has published works which the Library of Congress
has apparently not yet received, a gap this Contributing Editor will attempt
to fill.

Among positive developments, we should note the appearance of new writers whose
work promises better comprehension, a broader perspective, and greater integration
in the study of colonial art. José Guadalupe Victoria Vicencio stands out among
the group under consideration here; significantly, he was educated abroad. His
1982 French thesis, which we hope will be published, is titled Les problèmes
de la peinture en Nouvelle-Espagne entre la Renaissance et le Baroque, 1525-1625;
in press is his book, Arte y arquitectura de la Sierra Alta: siglo XVI. Ramón
Gutiérrez, an Argentine architect, has written an important synthetic study
of colonial architecture throughout Latin America (item bi 89001847). The only
other such synthezing work, by another Argentine, Ana María Telesca, is briefer
and more derivative (item bi 89001849). Although not a professionally trained
art historian, Gutiérrez exemplifies the type of architect-scholar that dominated
research especially in South American colonial art and whose high-quality works
have provided us with valuable insights.

Finally, the greater perspective of Spanish scholars, who in the past have
produced such encyclopedic figures as the late José Pijoán and Diego Angulo
Iñiguez, is evident once again in the work of Santiago Sebastián López (represented
here by item bi 89001872). Spain's universities provide rigorous training in
art history, a surprisingly strong discipline there. Her scholars gain a broad
repertoire of visual knowledge which permits accurate comparison between European
and American works and an ability to see broad patterns in Western art history
into which Latin American colonial works fit.